Special Edition: Spider-Man vs. the Hulk

[vanhornluke]

Special Edition: Spider-Man vs. the Hulk (1979)
By ?

APPEARANCES:
Dockworkers, Lucy, Lucy’s dad, Bruce Banner, Jerry, Jerry’s partner, Spider-Man, hoods, store owner, Professor Warner, Cindy Sayers, ESU students, campus protestor, cops

SYNOPSIS:
Bruce Banner is in New York looking to visit Empire State University, but while walking past the docks he sees a young girl fall into the water. He wants to help, but he can’t find anything to throw to her. The stress of the situation causes him to become the Hulk, who then pulls a street light out of the ground and use it to bring the girl out of the water. Witnesses freak out, though, and so the cops arrive and start shooting. The Hulk jumps away rather than fight. Meanwhile, Spidey is late for class at ESU because he stops a gang of hoods who were attempting to rob a store. After class, he asks Cindy Sayers out for a burger, but right after she says yes his spider sense tingles, so he breaks the date with a flimsy excuse. Quickly changing into Spidey, he notices the Hulk stomping through the campus. He tries to stop the Hulk but, as should be expected, he can’t do much. When part of a building crumbles because of the Hulk’s rampage, Cindy is trapped under rubble. Spidey tries to lift it off of her, but it’s too heavy, so the Hulk saves her instead. Touched by the Hulk’s action, Spidey warns him to leave the campus before the cops can open fire with their heavy artillery.

NOTE:
This story takes place on the first day of school (probably for Fall semester). Pete wanted a date with Cindy all last semester, so this should probably be placed a semester after a time when he wasn’t dating anyone else.

Bruce Banner is called David a couple times in this, but introduced initially as Bruce. Some might take that as an indication that this is set in the continuity of the old Hulk tv show, but Spidey is presented (I believe) as the current comics were at the time had him, seeming to indicate that this is supposed to be set in his continuity. I believe the comics established that Bruce was sometimes called David, so this shouldn’t be an obstacle to inclusion.

Since I’m not familiar with the Spidey and Hulk stories from this timeframe, I’m hoping others can suggest where to place this in their chronologies.


Chronologies:

HULK/DR. ROBERT BRUCE BANNER
See above note

JERRY
SESMVH

LUCY
SESMVS

SAYERS, CINDY
SESMVH

SPIDER-MAN/PETER BENJAMIN PARKER
See above note

WARNER, PROFESSOR
SESMVH

[ShadZ]

This story is later reprinted (in a slightly altered form) in M/TU 126, which is in the Project. I suppose the M/TU story is the 616 version, and this version happens elsewhere in the multiverse...

The cover can be seen here: https://www.comics.org/issue/94319/cover/4/